Our coffee plantation

The coffee plantation covered 62 hectare of land and located Bonga-Chiri, is a town in the southwest part of Ethiopia, in a region known for growing coffee. Bonga has a population of around 21,000 people and it is 460 kilometers to the southwest from Addis Ababa. Bonga is the capital of the Kaffa zone in SNNPR which is one of the western sub-regions in the southern administration region. It’s a major business as well as political town for about 10 “woredas” (towns) in constituting the Kaffa zone. Bonga is also a business center for farmers growing coffee, honey and spices from the natural forest.

This place is recognized one of Biosphere Reserve with in Ethiopia.

Climate

In Ethiopia, coffee is grown at various altitudes ranging from 550-2750 meters above sea level. However, the bulk of Coffee arabica is produced in the Eastern, Southern and Western parts of the country with altitudes ranging between l300-1800 meters.Rainfall distribution in the Southern and Eastern part of the country is bimodal and the Western part is monomodal. This distribution pattern enables the country to harvest coffee at different times of the year which makes the supply of fresh coffee possible all year round.

The climate is very humid and warm with average annual precipitation of 900-1500mm with a number of small and large streams flowing throughout the year while the temperature ranges from 150c - 250c.

The rain fall is the bi-annual type in which the main rain season (kiremt) extends from June up to December and the short rain season (belg) from January to May. The Hottest months are April and May while the coldest is August. Generally, the area receives sufficient rain fall for coffee growing and its distribution is also adequate for the purpose and it is highly suitable range for coffee growing.

Topography

The project area lies for the most part in the “Weynadega” climatic zone with in an altitude of about 1500-1800 m.a.s.l and have slop varying from 5% to 20%. Generally, gentle slopes and limited undulating land features mainly characterized the topography.

Soil

The soil in the Southern and Western part of the coffee growing regions of Ethiopia is of volcanic origin with the high nutrient holding capacity of clay minerals. All the coffee growing regions have fertile, friable loamy soil with more than 1.5m of depth.

Soil groups and texture classes of the project area vary from silts clay loam to loam. The color is red brown and brown clay soils contacting sand and gravel. According to FAO/UNESCO soil classification legend the soil in the project area mainly consist of Nitosols and cambisoles. The soil is very deep (from 150 cm up to 200 cm) and very rich in humus and its PH ranges from 5.4 up to 6.2 clay texture and well drained nature with high organic matter which make it very suitable for coffee.

Natural Vegetation

Owing to the Agro-climatic classification the project area its natural vegetation generally falls under the tropical evergreen forest category. But the actual physical agronomic vegetation type is typically lenses mainly tall trees with the heavy to medium density such as, “weyera”, “Getem” Crotone, Albizzia, mellisha, Cordia, Abyssinica, and other indigenous tall trees.

Water resource

The rivers flowing in the North east direction lying at the border of the project area is the potential water source for irrigation and other purposes. There are also several streams in the project site which can be used for human and animal consumption.

Service Giving Institutions

The Zone and Woreda offices of the ministry of agriculture and rural development and investment office gives technical support to the project in every aspect through their multidiscipline staffs.

Availability of Infrastructure

As mentioned before, the project site (area) is accessible throughout the year with any type of vehicles. Telephone, postal services, bank and Hospital is available in Bonga, the town of both zone and Woreda.